Prime advertising space at the London 2012 Olympics will be auctioned off online, with sponsors bidding for spots across the UK.

London 2012 is to be the first to auction advertising space online, which they claim is the fairest and most transparent way to do so.

The auction is expected to raise around £250m, with 4000 packages of advertising space available in cities where events will take place including, London, Birmingham, Cardiff, and Glasgow.

'Tier one' sponsors will be given first choice of places for the first two weeks of auction, including 'vicinity' sights and 'spectaculars'. Companies such as McDonalds, Coca Cola, BP, Samsung and Lloyds TSB will be given first choice over these spots.

The reaction to this is expected to indicate how much uplift there will be in the advertising industry in 2012.